Stichting SEVA Microfinance Institute

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Partner Description:

Seva Network Foundation (Seva NL) is an international organization based in the Netherlands that promotes entrepreneurship in poor and marginalized communities in developing countries. Additionally, Seva NLworks with diaspora communities in the Netherlands who are interested in starting businesses in their countries of origin.

Seva NL created Stichting Seva Micro Finance Institute (Seva MFI) in 2004 in Suriname. The original objective was to conduct a project called “Silent Poverty, the forgotten workers of Nickerie and Saramacca” following the closure of the important Surland farm in 2002, which resulted in 5,000 workers being laid off.

Suriname’s districts of Nickerie and Saramacca are home to the country’s traditional granaries – these fertile coastlands mainly produce rice and bananas. Seva NL started investigating potential microcredit needs in these districts, which led to the creation of Seva MFI in 2009 for rice farmers in the district of Nickerie.

Seva NL also actively supports the Millennium Development Goals by working toward sustainable poverty reduction worldwide. To that end, Seva NL carries out projects in areas of education, microfinance, agricultural development and community-building in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. This explains the origination of Seva MFI in Suriname.

Kiva lenders’ funds are used to expand the outreach to rice farmers in the Nickerie district in Suriname, where the organization focuses its activities.

A unique lending approach:

Suriname’s microfinance sector is poorly developed, and rural borrowers are often deemed too risky by traditional financial institutions to get access to financial resources. Seva MFI has entered this underserved market with loans that enable farmers to purchase pesticides, fertilizer, farming tools and equipment.

Seva MFIs goal is to help these vulnerable farmers become sustainable and successful entrepreneurs who can eventually qualify for commercial loans through banks. Moving forward, Seva MFI also intends to progressively “move inland” and reach out to other financially excluded and geographically isolated populations located in Suriname’s Amazon rain forest.

Seva MFI concentrates its lending activities in the Nickerie district. The organization is quite small in size; it currently has one office based in Nieuw Nickerie staffed with one coordinator and two loan officers. Their job is to assess financial needs for rice farmers in the area in order to purchase tools, equipment and fertilizer for the sowing season. In 2012, they successfully disbursed over 650 loans.

Other Information Sources

Stichting SEVA Microfinance Institute's Mission Statement

To promote the economic development and social emancipation of vulnerable populations.

Why Kiva Works With Stichting SEVA Microfinance Institute

Seva MFI’s vision is to help build a prosperous Suriname without poverty. Like Kiva, it is committed to supporting the most underserved populations that would otherwise have no access to funds. Seva means selfless service in sanskrit. The organization provides farmers with financial services and technical assistance to help them expand their agricultural plots and maximize their harvests and income.

Country Fast Facts

Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese